The Red Skelton Show was on the air for 20 years, the longest-running primetime network comedy variety series on television. It was a top 10 series for nine years--an accomplishment surpassed only by Gunsmoke and Home Improvement. The series has a few unimpressive achievements too, such as becoming the first top 10 series to be cancelled by a network. Here is the history of The Red Skelton Show, beginning with its debut in 1951, one of the top five that year. The show then declined in popularity, moved from CBS to NBC in 1953, slowly rose back to the top. In its glory days of the 1960s it became an hour long show and finished at number two in two different years. The cancellation of the show by CBS in 1970 despite its place in the top 10 was a surprise; the last season back with NBC was a failure. Appendices list cast and crew credits and special guests by season, and offer information on the post-Red Skelton lives of many of the principal players.

This three-volume set is a valuable resource for researching the history of American television. An encyclopedic range of information documents how television forever changed the face of media and continues to be a powerful influence on society. What are the reasons behind enduring popularity of television genres such as police crime dramas, soap operas, sitcoms, and "reality TV"? What impact has television had on the culture and morality of American life? Does television largely emulate and reflect real life and society, or vice versa? How does television's influence differ from that of other media such as newspapers and magazines, radio, movies, and the Internet? These are just a few of the questions explored in the three-volume encyclopedia TV in the USA: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. This expansive set covers television from 1950 to the present day, addressing shows of all genres, well-known programs and short-lived series alike, broadcast on the traditional and cable networks. All three volumes lead off with a keynote essay regarding the technical and historical features of the decade(s) covered. Each entry on a specific show investigates the narrative, themes, and history of the program; provides comprehensive information about when the show started and ended, and why; and identifies the star players, directors, producers, and other key members of the crew of each television production. The set also features essays that explore how a particular program or type of show has influenced or reflected American society, and it includes numerous sidebars packed with interesting data, related information, and additional insights into the subject matter.

For more than twenty years, Hoosier comic Red Skelton entertained millions of viewers who gathered around their television sets to delight in the antics of such notable characters as Freddie the Freeloader, Clem Kaddiddlehopper, Cauliflower McPugg, and Sheriff Deadeye. Noted film historian Wes D. Gehring examines the man behind the characters—someone who never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Gehring delves into Skelton's hardscrabble life with a shockingly dysfunctional family in the southern Indiana community of Vincennes, his days on the road on the vaudeville circuit, the comedian's early success on radio, his up-and-down movie career with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and his sometimes tragic personal life.

Since the early days of television, well before most households had a set, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has been handing out honors for the industry's best efforts. Now fans can read about their favorites--and perhaps rediscover some forgotten pleasures--in this reference to prime time and nighttime Emmy winners. Beginning with the heated charade contest known as Pantomime Quiz, which won Most Popular Program of 1948 in the first Emmy Awards ceremony (held in 1949), each of more than 100 winning shows gets star treatment with an entry that includes the year of award or awards, air times, hosts, guests, casts and a full discussion of the show's history and run. Many of the entries include original interviews with cast or crew members. With such rich information, each show's entry constitutes a chapter in the history of television through the story of the show and the people who made it happen. The best of variety, drama, game shows, comedies, adventures and many more categories are featured. An appendix offers interesting facts and figures and ranks shows according to such statistics as longest run, longest delay from debut to win, and most Emmys won.

The remarkable career of American actress Eve Arden (1908-1990) is thoroughly chronicled from her earliest stage work in 1926 (under her given name Eunice Quedens) to her final television role in a 1987 episode of Falcon Crest. Included are detailed descriptions and critical commentaries of the actress's 62 feature film appearances between 1929 and 1982, notably her Oscar-nominated performance as Joan Crawford's sardonic confidante in 1945's Mildred Pierce. Complete coverage is provided of Eve Arden's work in the popular radio and television series Our Miss Brooks, and her later costarring stint with Kaye Ballard in the two-season TV sitcom The Mothers-in-Law. Also listed are her many other radio and television appearances, as well as her theatrical roles in such Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 and Let's Face It.

A glimpse of day-to-day life under the big top, from one of the circus's most remarkable performers